Tile mounting structures



April 7, 1970 J. PINCEMIN TILE MOUNTING STRUCTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 24, 1968 A ril 7, 1970 J. pmcMlN 3,504,470

TILE MOUNTING STRUCTURES Filed June 24, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,504,470 TILE MOUNTING STRUCTURES Jean Pincemin, 6 Chemin Dcsvalieres 93, Ville dAvray, France Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 456,074, May 17, 1965. This application June 24, 1968, Ser. No. 739,347 Claims priority, application France, May 15, 1964, 974,658; Apr. 15, 1965, 13,357 Int. Cl. E04b 1/90; E04t' 13/14 U.S. Cl. 52-385 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This is a continuation-in-part of my previous application, Ser. No. 456,074 filed May 17, 1965, now aban doned.

The present invention relates to a novel mounting structure for fitting and assembling tiles or other conventional or original geometric surfacings for walls or for decorative purposes, which are of glass, plastic, ceramic or other mineral or synthetic material. The present invention comprises providing each tile on its rear surface with mounting studs which are perpendicular to the surface and which are integral therewith. The mounting studs enable the tile to be affixed to or detached from a mounting panel which is provided with a convenient number of suitably arranged holes or slots, which are sized to accommodate the mounting studs, the panel being fixed to a wall by any conventional means, such as ball-clips in conjunction with perforated angles.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tile assembly, the manufacture of which is not hampered by the exigencies of mould separation difiiculties, the solidity of which is determined by the conditions of assembling, and, finally, which may be detached as easily as it is mounted, without damage to the mounting panel, whereby it is possible to vary the decorative effect at any point as desired.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tile mounting panel with fitted tiles, the fixing and removal of which may both be facilitated by the choice of method of fixing, so that the mounting panels may be transposed on the wall just as the tiles may be transposed on the panels, thereby providing the specialist or amateur with a theoretically unlimited number of combinations and of ditferent decorative effects.

In the case of a modified mounting assembly, the studs do not form an integral part of the tile but are mounted such that they are displaceable and adjustable. These modified studs thus enable the tiles to be interchangeably mounted so that they may be moved to form any desired pattern upon a mounting panel which is also modified in its structure and in its own type of mounting.

According to this variant, the mounting panel assumes the form of a metal sheet, the periphery of which is bent to form a flange whereby it may be clipped to the wall or partition in question. Moreover, into this peripheral flange, a back plate together with a plastic sole plate is pressed behind the mounting panel and parallel thereto. The sole 3,504,470 Patented Apr. 7, 1970 plate has moulded to it a certain number of sockets, each accommodating the length of a stud in order to ensure a firm connection; each stud is simply inserted into the mounting panel which has been provided with holes for this purpose.

The unit comprising the pressed mounting panel, back plate and socketed sole plate, forms a flat box-like structure onto which the tile (or group of tiles) is applied, the thusly assembled unit is then clipped to angles on the wall or partition. The vacant space within the box normally contains air but may contain a granular or spunglass type of insulating medium, which imparts to the unit excellent sound-deadening and heat-absorption qualities.

Finally, the perforations provided on the mounting panel and also the provision of the sockets on the soleplate enable any number of studs to be fitted within the limitations of the area available, each stud having a corresponding terminal lug insertable into a mating hole in the tile; this therefore provides a certain variety of arrangement of studs according to the type and design of the tiles.

By this arrangement, it is possible for the supplier, or indeed for the user himself, to modify as .desired the choice of tiles and the decorative scheme according to all possible geometric patterns.

The invention thus offers a novel product, the structure of which, represents a combination of features, heretofore dissociated, that is to say, the detachable nature of the tiles on the mounting panel and of the mounting panel on the wall or fixed partition, the great number of arrangements of studs relative to the tiles and to the mounting panel, the facility of changing one combination for another, and finally, acoustic and heat insulation with reduced condensation.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a tile according to one embodiment of the invention, as seen from beneath;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a tile according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section through a tile according to FIGURE 1 or 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a mounting panel with the tiles assembled in position; and

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of an arrangement for mounting and assembling of the tile.

FIGURES 1 to 3 show the assembling of injectionmoulded tiles. The body 1 of the tile has on its under face or non-visible face a plurality of slides or channels 20 in which are slidably mounted to plurality of studs 2. The studs are shown to be cylindrical but their shape may be that of a cone or truncated cone, or olive-shaped or polyhedral, provided that their profile remains within the standards of mould separation. In the example given, each stud 2 has at its base a small collar 3 which prevents the stud from being separated from the tile but which enables it to slidably move in slide 20. These slides may be parallel to one another, as in FIGURE 1, or can be perpendicular to one another. As shown in FIGURE 2 both types of slides can be provided on the same tile. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the slides preferably are made by securing, with rivets 22, strips of metals having their ends bent away from the face of the tile to form sliding grooves therebetween and which prevent the inner surface of the tile from contacting the mounting panel 4, thus forming vacant anti-condensation zones Z.

The mounting panel 4 may be produced from any substance in which it is convenient to produce the fixing or locating holes or mortises 7 to receive the mounting studs 2. Preferably, the substance should be a heat-proof, compressed material with heat and sound insulating properties. The manner of fixing the panel to the wall (not 7 3 illustrated) does not per se fall within the framework of the present invention. The sole requirement is that the panel should be as easy to remove as it is to mount while remaining firmly in position after mounting.

If, for example, the material employed is natural stone, such as sandstone, marble, granite, porphyry, etc., cut into plates, as has been commonly done for some time when tiling walls or partitions of concrete or brick, the fixing holes for the studs are milled into the reverse face of the stone tile and the studs are then fitted into these by means of a metal joggle or equivalent element, the distribution of the studs on the surface concerned being determined by the surface area and geometric form of the surface. The studs may however be embedded directly in blind holes milled, as stated above, to the appropriate profile, while making provision for the grain and hardness of the stone.

The same procedure is employed in the case of tiles or the like produced from synthetic stone.

These different surfaces, of whatever material, may also be mounted or enclosed in a mounting frame provided on the reverse side with suitable fixing studs.

The system of mounting or framing is left to the individual user. Likewise, the decoration on the tiles or like elements manufactured and utilised in accordance with the invention has infinite possible variations and the particular design is left up to the individual user.

In the modified construction shown in FIGURE 5, the tile 1 has a thick portion 26 in which is provided a number of holes 6. The holes are sized to receive therein the terminal lug portions 2b of studs 2a which, in this case, are moulded separately from a more flexible material than that of the tile. The anti-condensation zone Z is still retained and continues to fulfill function.

Each stud 2a is inserted into a hole 7 of a diameter corresponding to that of the studs and which is punched in the mounting panel 5. The mounting panel is of metal and is pressed to form on its periphery a right-angle flange 8. The upper part of each stud 2a lies flush with the upper part of plate 5 as shown on FIGURE 5. The pressing operation may be carried out at the same time as the punching of the holes 7. The lip of these holes is preferably turned over slightly, with short radial slits forming an equal number of small curved tongues in order to improve the grip exercised on the flank of the stud. It is also advantageous if the end of the stud is slightly tapered.

Into the rear part of the flange 8 of the mounting panel is firmly pressed a back plate 9. The backplate is in contact along its entire inner surface with a soleplate 10 of plastic material and provided with a plurality of walls 11. The walls 11 are spaced apart and form sockets which accommodate therebetween the studs 2a. Each socket is in alignment with a hole 7 in the mounting panel even though there is no stud available for this pair in a given combination.

The length or depth of the walls 11 and also the thickness of the soleplate 10 are such that, as the back-plate 9 is pressed into position, each socket comes to rest against a peripheral portion of the mounting panel 5 surrounding one of the holes 7 so that, when the stud 2a is inserted, it fits exactly, is correctly centered, and is held securely in place.

The diameters of the holes 6, lugs 2b, studs 2a, curved holes 7 and and walls 11 are calculated and produced with sufiicient accuracy to ensure that the studs perform their securing function satisfactorily. This accuracy ensures that the studs may be removed without great difficulty by the user when the position of the tiles, that is to say by removing and replacing, or by substituting all or part of the tiles by tiles of other designs.

The unit described above is thus in the form of a flat box with two anti-condensation zones, i.e. the zone Z already mentioned and the zone Y existing between the mounting panel 5 and the soleplate 10. The zone Y may, if desired, be filled with insulating material (spun-glass, powdered cork, etc).

The assembled unit is detachably secured to the wall or partition by suitable means, for example clips 13 (ball or spring clips) which clip into angles 14 fixed permanently to the wall or partition.

The tiles-are placed in edge to edge relationship with respect to each other, as shown in FIGURE 4 where part of one tile 1' adjoins the other tile 1.

The above arrangement may be applied, without departing from the framework of the invention, to geometric figures other than a square, which was selected for the present description merely by way of a convenient example.

Within the purview of the invention, it is possible to make the tiles from any translucent or transparent substance (e.g. glass) whether plain or colored, and to place, behind the tiles, surfaces of any color to accommodate, by any means known per se, any ornamental design, whether fixed or movable, static or animated, which designs are intended to appear through the tiles in accordance with unlimited combinations of color and pattern.

What is claimed is:

-1. In combination: a tile mounting panel having therein a plurality of locating holes; a plurality of tiles removably mounted on said tile mounting panel; each tile having on its back, non-visible surface at least one channel; at least one mounting stud for each tile, said mounting stud having one end slidably mounted in said channel and the other end fitted into one of said locating holes; each channel comprising strips of metal attached to the tile, the adjacent portions of said strips being bent away from the tile surface to slidably accommodate therebetween said mounting stud and the remaining portion of said channel not taken up by said mounting stud comprising vacant space to prevent condensation.

2. Combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tile mounting panel has a right angle flange on the periphery thereof, said flange having a terminal edge, clips on said edge, a back plate positioned close to said terminal edge, a plastic soleplate in contact with said back plate intermediate said tile mounting panel and said back plate, the space between said tiles and said tile mounting panel comprising a first anti-condensation zone and the space between said panel and soleplate comprising a second anti-condensation zone.

3. Combination according to claim 2, wherein said second zone is filled with an insulating material.

-4. Combination according to claim 2, wherein said material is spun glass or powdered cork.

5. Combination according to claim 1, wherein each tile has a plurality of communicating channels perpendicularly disposed to one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,379,595 7/ 1945 Roe 525ll 3,114,220 12/1963 Maddox 527l0 3,274,727 9/1966 Zander 52-384 JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52-404, 508, 511, 710 

